The 82-bed skilled nursing facility, with 115 clinical, administrative and service staff, earned the 2017 ACHCA Eli Pick Facility Leadership Award for “being one of the top-performing skilled nursing facilities in the nation for 2016,” the college said.

“Only about 9 percent of nursing homes in the country meet the quality criteria for this award, so this is quite an achievement,” ACHCA board Chairman Stefan Fromm said in a letter to Mountainside Administrator Christopher Esola.

“Criteria are carefully reviewed and updated each year to assure that top-performing facilities are duly recognized and that the award continues to raise the bar for organizational performance,” Fromm said.

ACHCA noted, for instance, that Mountainside had no regulatory inspections in the past three years that showed any potential for patient harm.

“We’re very pleased to receive this honor, which goes to everyone on our expert team,” Esola said. “We at Mountainside consistently aspire to provide the highest-quality person-centered care and to achieve the highest levels of patient satisfaction. The Eli Pick Facility Leadership Award inspires us to achieve even higher levels of excellence.”

Mountainside has earned the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ highest-level five-star quality rating and is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the country’s Best Nursing Homes.

The nonprofit ACHCA is dedicated to administrative leadership and excellence in post-acute and aging services care across the spectrum of healthcare services.

Mountainside Residential Care Center is operated by HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley, a member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth).